Judge delays decision on suit to overturn Richart settlement

VISTA - Superior Court Judge Thomas Nugent heard arguments
Friday on a motion to dismiss a civil suit challenging the $1.6
million settlement agreement between MiraCosta College and its
former president.

Nugent said he would issue a decision next week on whether the
suit by Carlsbad resident Leon Page should go forward.

Page, an attorney, claims that MiraCosta's settlement with
former college President Victoria Munoz Richart, reached in an
all-night closed-session negotiation last June, violated state open
meeting laws. Page seeks to overturn the settlement and force
trustees to renegotiate the deal in public.

Jack Sleeth, an attorney representing the college, sought to end
Page's suit by filing the motion to dismiss. Sleeth argued that
Richart's settlement was done legally, did not violate open meeting
laws and was a reasonable payment to Richart for damages to her
reputation.

Sleeth and Richart's attorney, Randy Winet, said some trustees
violated Richart's privacy rights when they made public statements
about her performance. Neither attorney would specify what
statements damaged Richart.

Winet said that if Page succeeds in his bid to kill the
settlement, Richart would sue the college for far more money.